Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker (57, Minjoo), who is challenging for re-election, has declared the 35th Corona 19 disaster and extended the period of emergency rulership until after the midterm elections.
According to Illinois media, Center Square (CS) and Illinois Polus (IP) on the 20th, Governor Pritzker said on the 14th that “I have confirmed that there are still disasters in Illinois,” and visited all 102 counties across the state. It has been re-declared as a disaster zone.
This includes everything from Cook County, which has a population of 5,173,000, to Hardin County, which has a population of 3,650.
In this regard, the IP issued by the think tank ‘Illinois Institute for Policy Studies’ stated, “Based on the 11th of next month, when the new emergency situation ends, the period during which Governor Pritzker exercised sovereignty over the law by emergency order without congressional consent is in office. It is 975 days out of 1,398 days,” he said.
“Governor Pritzker’s repeated disaster declaration undermined the original purpose of the Illinois Emergency Measures Act,” said WirePoints, an Illinois watchdog group.
The residents of Illinois, including Chicago, have endured business closures, mandatory masks, vaccinations, and school classes online in accordance with the emergency rules unilaterally set by the governor without going through Congress for 950 days since March 2020.” With this disaster declaration, the governor explained that he could impose new regulations again at any time.
The Democrat-majority legislature could put the brakes on the governor’s move, but it didn’t, the WP said.
Congressman Stephen Rick (Republican) of the Joint Administrative Rules Committee (JCAR), a bipartisan group that oversees rulemaking by Illinois state agencies, said, “Governor Pritzker has declared several COVID-19-related disasters 35 times. “We have to go back to ‘normal’,” he said.
According to the WP, states near Illinois have already ended their state of emergency related to the coronavirus long ago. Michigan lifted its disaster declaration two years ago and Wisconsin a year and a half ago, and other state governors also relinquished their emergency powers at least six months ago.
Governor Pritzker said the main reason for maintaining the disaster declaration was “to support low-income families with additional federal assistance.”
IP added that there are currently three disasters declared across the state of Illinois.